Galileo-Navigationssystem

u-blox AG, the leading Swiss provider of GPS receiver technology, will showcase u-blox 5,
a Galileo-ready A-GPS chip featuring an acquisition performance of less than one second,
at the 2007 CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany.CeBIT, which runs from March 15-21, is the world’s leading ICT show and is expected to
attract nearly half a million visitors and over 6000 exhibitors this year. This makes it
the largest marketplace for digital IT and telecommunications solutions, providing a
unique opportunity for product manufacturers, service providers and distributors to meet,
exchange views and do business. u-blox will be promoting its u-blox 5 chip at the event. The new technology boasts an
acquisition and tracking sensitivity of -160 dBm that enables indoor coverage, a
50-channel engine and a power consumption of less than 50 mW. Its energy efficiency and
tracking sensitivity make it ideal for GPS-enabled battery-operated portable devices that
operate in difficult indoor environments like shopping malls, train stations and urban
canyons. “Our ultra fast u-blox 5 chip, with its low power consumption and indoor performance,
enables a whole new range of innovative GPS-enabled applications, from handheld
navigation devices to smart phones,” said Thomas Seiler, u-blox CEO.

PAIGNTON, England– Spirent Communications (NYSE:SPM) (LSE:SPT), the market leader in satellite navigation test equipment, announces the availability of its GSS7900 GPS/Galileo Simulation System. This system allows the testing of advanced multi-system GNSS receivers by supporting the free-to-use signals from both GPS and Galileo systems. The GSS7900 simulates the RF environment to characterise, optimise and validate GNSS receivers under accurate, controlled and repeatable conditions in the laboratory.

“We pride ourselves on our signal fidelity and the comprehensive capabilities of our test systems,” said Peter Boulton, technology director at Spirent’s Wireless and Positioning division. “Spirent’s innovative approach to correctly modelling the wideband ionospheric dispersion across the Galileo E5 frequencies is one example of this. Our Galileo simulators are currently undergoing formal verification with our official Galileo programme customers.”

This new dual-constellation simulator is derived from Spirent’s “industry standard” GSS7700 GPS simulator and the GSS7800 Galileo simulator that Spirent developed in 2006 to support the test needs of the Galileo Ground Mission Segment and Test User Segment programmes. These test systems, including the new GSS7900, benefit from Spirent’s flexible and feature-rich SimGEN for Windows® software suite. SimGEN enables advanced flexibility and control over simulated parameters and is designed to facilitate a wide variety of test configurations and results analysis.

“Spirent is responding to our customers’ desire to perform combined GPS/Galileo receiver development work,” commented John Pottle, marketing director at Spirent. “The release of the Open Service Galileo signal-in-space interface-control-document (SIS ICD) has stimulated interest in the additional capabilities that Galileo will enable. Currently, our Galileo system uses public domain information about Galileo only, as there are restrictions on the use of the Galileo ranging codes and navigation data. When these restrictions are lifted, Spirent will upgrade its GSS7900 customers to full ICD compliance via a simple field upgrade.”

[via press release]

SiGe Semiconductor says that it is ready to launch the world’s first Galileo-ready receiver for mass market consumer electronics, which will enable the integration of GPS style navigation services into portable devices including mobile phones.

Galileo is a new satellite system that will greatly enhance navigation and positioning performance compared with the existing GPS system. The combination of GPS and Galileo will improve user experience of location based services by enabling products to determine position data much more consistently, more quickly, and with greater accuracy than with GPS alone. These benefits are expected to drive a significant opportunity, as the global satellite navigation market is expected to reach US$30 billion by the time the Galileo system becomes operational in 2008.

The SE4120 allows consumer device manufacturers to capitalise on this market by designing Galileo-ready systems even as the standards are being finalised. The software-based receiver architecture ensures that changes to the standards can be supported with simple software upgrades. This allows manufacturers to design their systems now, ensuring they are among the first to market with Galileo-ready products. The software-defined architecture also minimises board area, power consumption, and cost - benefits ideal for high-volume portable consumer electronics.
[via cellular-news]